141,270 research outputs found
Labour mobility and diaspora: An overview of Solomon Islands’ historical regulatory experience, 1850s-2013
No full textWith less than 4,500 of its population of around 600,000 living overseas in 2013, the Solomon Islands ranks 138th in the world for diaspora formation. At these levels the scale of the diaspora as a proportion of population (0.8 percent) remains lower than it was in the early 20th century, when more than 5,000 Solomon islanders were compulsorily repatriated from Queensland under early Australian Commonwealth legislation. This working paper retraces and reframes the history of Solomon Islands labour mobility and diaspora formation since the 1850s, considering it in relation to the wider institutional and macro-regulatory machineries of three phases or regimes of economic, trade and mobility regulation. These regimes are referred to in this paper as: 1.liberal imperial, 2. national territorial and 3. International neoliberal. We argue that Solomon Islanders’ participation in labour mobility has been substantial under all three phases, but that international mobility and diaspora formation only developed significantly under the liberal imperial regime. Even then, however, its development proved precarious. The ways regional actors and governments acting within the different regimes have framed and segmented labour markets continue to powerfully shape mobility and diaspora outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the situation to date for future economic development and security in Solomon Islands
1:50,000 British Solomon Islands Protectorate [cartographic material] /
No full text1st ed. Geological map series of the Solomon Islands.; Relief shown by contours, spot heights, and formline drawings.; Includes geological timetable, cross sections, text, magnetic variation diagram, index to adjoining sheets, and insets.; Includes mapping coverage diagram on some sheets.; Spheroid: International.; Each sheet is named and numbered individually.; Map series of Solomon Islands showing geological features.1:50,000 Solomon Island
Making sense of health education in the Solomon Islands.
No full textThis article explores both the process and outcomes of a working Partnership between Solomon Islands College for Higher Education and the University of Waikato that explored the development of the initial teacher education health education courses. Through a process of co-construction and inquiry, teacher educators from the Solomon Islands and New Zealand developed a metaphorical context-specific model to represent understandings of health education in the Solomon Islands. The model and what this has meant for teaching and learning in health education at both SOE and in schools is examined
Technology Teachers' Perceptions of the Roles and Uses of ICT in Solomon Islands' Schools
No full textAlthough the impact of ICT in teaching and learning is increasing, whether it will deliver its potential depends to a large extent on how teachers access and use ICT within the teaching and learning process (Balanskat Blamire, 2007). Furthermore, teachers' understanding of how ICT contributes to teaching and learning can be invaluable to the decisions they make about the use of ICT tools to enhance or transform their teaching.
Therefore, this study investigates the perceptions of technology teachers on the use of ICT tools in Solomon Islands schools. It also explores technology teachers' views about the level of ICT resources in the schools. The study used semi-structured interview; a qualitative method of data collection that involved eight technology teachers selected from four schools in Honiara. I choose to do qualitative research because it helped to explain technology teachers' perceptions and beliefs of the use of ICT tools in Solomon Islands schools. The flexibility within the research process allows for an in-dept look at the issues pertaining to the views of the participants.
The study identifies a range of issues regarding teachers' perceptions and beliefs about the integration of ICT tools in the Solomon Islands schools. These included teachers' views on the issues of access and use of ICT tools in schools, teachers' beliefs about the benefits and roles of ICT tools, teachers' views on the infrastructures and resources in the schools, the need for ICT professional development (PD) for teachers and a national policy to guide and control the use of ICT tools in schools. The study also found that many teachers in the Solomon Islands also lack the basic knowledge and skills in using ICT tools.
Based on these findings, this study offers the following recommendations that can be used to improve and support the integration of ICT tools in the Solomon Islands schools. These included supporting teachers in developing their knowledge and skills in using ICT tools, providing a continuous professional development for teachers in ICT, the need to create a policy in education to guide the use of ICT tools in education and supporting schools to build their ICT resources and infrastructure. These will help teachers to effectively integrate ICT tools into teaching and learning
Funds of knowledge: Developing a Diploma in Teaching in Early Childhood Education in the Solomon Islands.
No full textThis article discusses how three early childhood teacher educators, from the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education School of Education and the University of Waikato Faculty of Education, worked in partnership together and with others to develop a new Diploma in Teaching Early Childhood Education (ECE) for the Solomon Islands. We argue that the knowledge and understandings that we shared about New Zealand early childhood education and its bicultural curriculum Te Whāriki made our task easier from the outset. So too did our shared "funds of knowledge" and expertise, particularly the Solomon Islands women's indigenous knowledge and abilities to reflect on teaching and learning in their nation and New Zealand, two contexts they understood well. As we worked through a range of issues related to the development and delivery of courses, the primacy of relationships and historical, cultural and social contexts for learning were reinforced. Broad understandings of relevant education pedagogy for adults and young children were incorporated through the diploma development process. The result was a new Diploma in Teaching Early Childhood Education and new ways of teaching and learning embedded in Solomon Islands contexts, blending the best of local and imported knowledge. This article adds to a small body of literature related to ECE in the Solomon Islands and the Pacific region
The Solomon Islands School of Education Partnership: Aspirations, context and design in educational change.
No full textThis article provides a background and context for a project that linked the School of Education in Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SOE) with an external partner to work together on institutional and educational change. The four and a half year Partnership was funded by the New Zealand Aid Programmei. Pre-service teacher education in Solomon Islands is mainly provided by the School of Education. For a number of years the school has faced many challenges in its attempt to offer quality pre-service teacher education. Some challenges were external, such as political instability and ethnic unrest, and some were internal, such as a need to address the school's aims, design of programmes, quality of teaching, learning and assessment and the professional development of academic staff. We explain how the partnership responded to challenges and evolved in a way that recognised the input of the School of Education staff and avoided the imposition of solutions by the external partner. The major aspirations and intentions of the Partnership are described along with indications of positive changes that led to an extension of the project. A major change in the school was the inclusion of a teacher education programme for some of the many untrained practising teachers in the Solomon Islands. It is pointed out, however, that there were risks and challenges that faced the Partnership over its duration. Some were outside the control of the partners and others could be addressed and improvements made, especially within the school using a collaborative approach. It is argued that issues remain and further impetus is needed to effect more lasting change
Translating transitional justice: the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission
No full textThis paper contends that although the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission replicated the structure and operation of a truth commission based on a globalised and placeless theory of best practice in transitional justice, it was not adequately contextualised or integrated with local approaches to reconciliation and peacebuilding and therefore fell short of its ambitious mandate.
Introduction
The Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was the first truth commission in the Pacific, established under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act 2008 (TRC Act) in an effort to ‘promote national unity and reconciliation’ following the civil conflict which troubled the country between 1998 and 2003. The commission was publicly launched in 2008 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Chair of the South African TRC, and officially began operations in 2010 for two years. The commission presented its five-volume final report to Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo in February 2012; however, the report has yet to be publicly released or presented to parliament, despite requirements in the Act to do so. The ongoing silence of the government led to the editor of the final report, long-term Solomon Islands resident Bishop Terry Brown, unofficially releasing the report electronically in early 2013.
The TRC conducted exhumations, research, closed hearings and statement taking across six of the nine provinces, overcoming financial constraints, logistical challenges and difficult terrain. Several regional and thematic public hearings were also held and broadcast on the radio. The final report was handed over to the prime minister within the allocated two-year time frame. In light of these achievements, the Solomon Islands TRC could be considered a ‘success’ insomuch as it fulfilled its mandated duties and produced a final report — a challenging and remarkable achievement itself. This success, however, was arguably superficial, a performance of reconciliation in the theatre of post-conflict peacebuilding. A wider perspective of post-conflict peacebuilding and reconciliation in the Solomon Islands shows the TRC was a minor player on a crowded stage. Many Solomon Islanders were unaware of the TRC, and those familiar with its acronym or name were often unaware of its role or mandate.
This paper contends that although the Solomon Islands TRC replicated the structure and operation of a truth commission based on a globalised and placeless theory of best practice in transitional justice, the TRC was not adequately contextualised or integrated with local approaches to reconciliation and peacebuilding and therefore fell short of its ambitious mandate. The commission did, however, produce a final report which in and of itself may serve as a positive outcome of the commission’s work. The experience of the Solomon Islands TRC demonstrates not only the conceptual and practical challenges faced and friction experienced of implementing a truth commission, but also the potential that truth commissions offer for promoting reconciliation and peacebuilding in post- conflict contexts in Melanesia.
This paper is divided into six parts. First, a brief background of the Solomon Islands conflict is outlined. Second, the recent evolution of the peacebuilding and transitional justice fields are discussed to offer a background for the Solomon Islands TRC. Third, the various conflict management and reconciliation practices in Solomon Islands are outlined, leading to the fourth part which introduces and describes the background of the Solomon Islands TRC. The challenges of and failures to adapt the TRC to the local context are illustrated in the fifth part, with a discussion focused on the mistranslation of the meaning and value of both ‘truth’ and ‘reconciliation’ in post- conflict Solomon Islands. Finally, the sixth part argues that despite being initially championed by civil society actors, rather than becoming a ‘hybridised’ institution, the commission had a veneer of adaptation, and was ‘replicated’ according to normative transitional justice discourse
Sustaining organisational change: Teacher education in the Solomon Islands.
No full text"Sustainability is the capacity of education reform initiatives to continue" (Webster, Silova, Moyer, & McAllister, 2011, para. 12). In this article we reflect upon the process of organisational strengthening that was a key component of the Partnership between the Faculty of Education at the University of Waikato and the School of Education, Solomon Islands College of Higher Education. We argue that within the New Zealand Aid Programmei funded partnership, the building of mutually respectful relationships, building leadership capacity and the respect for and inclusion of indigenous cultural considerations were key to the organisational change process and its sustainability
Induction Experiences of Beginning Secondary Teachers in Solomon Islands
No full textResearch shows teacher induction programmes are crucial in supporting new teachers as they move into the profession. Widely implemented in different ways in many countries they have a shared purpose, which is to provide beginning teachers with an effective and supported transition into the teaching profession. In Solomon Islands, beginning teacher induction is yet to be made formal, standardised and systematic. This study investigated the induction experiences of beginning secondary teachers in Solomon Islands. While there is considerable research on beginning teacher induction in other countries, especially the developed countries, very little research has been carried out in Melanesian countries such as Solomon Islands. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Five themes emerged as central to beginning secondary teacher induction in Solomon Islands: barriers to effective beginning teacher induction; lack of formal beginning teacher induction; mentoring as an induction approach; need for professional development; and the influence of school leadership. Beginning secondary teachers in Solomon Islands encounter significant problems and challenges during their first years of teaching and for many they become barriers to success. The absence of any kind of formal induction programme for beginning secondary teachers in Solomon Islands appears to be a major contributor to the creation of these barriers. However, there was evidence of mentoring being used as an informal induction approach along with varying degrees of professional guidance and support by some school leaders. The positive influence of school leadership support was identified as a further critical factor in the induction of beginning secondary teachers. The development of an effective induction programme has important implications for beginning teachers in Solomon Islands and those involved in their professional learning. It is recommended that Solomon Islands aim to develop a national beginning teacher induction programme with a strong commitment to ongoing professional development for all stakeholders and an emphasis on professional mentoring as an induction approach
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